09/09/2018

I am overwhelmed.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the world around you and, most of all, by your own clutter? Well, I have. And, here is how I started to deal with it.

Things, things, things.

I have always had a tendency to get stressed by things. I mean, even going to the grocery store with the overflowing crowd tends to be a difficult experience for me. So, hard to picture what doesn’t.

But, one thing that particularly stresses me out is all of the clutter in my life. Whether digital or physical goods; over the last 20 years I lived on this Earth, I can’t believe I have gathered so many things. Hundreds of books, multiple game consoles, computers, notebooks, pen and … oh god, clothes. So much clutter to fill my brain with.


The Hedonic Treadmill

I made so many things enter my life because I thought I didn’t have a choice. I was taught very early by society itself that life is a race. The more you have, the faster you go. So I kept on buying, again and again. I mean, I lived the race for what it was. Even if I never really was a compulsive buyer (being very pragmatic tend to take the fun out of shopping), I still bought way more things than I ever needed.

I kept on wasting money because I wanted to impress people, or maybe was it to impress myself? To that expensive computer I bought, that pair of headphones, or even that DSLR I thought would make me take amazing pictures: who was it really for? For most of my existence, I kept running that Hedonic Treadmill, thinking that my life would be amazingly better with more stuff in it. But what if it wasn’t the way? What if I did have a choice?


When less is more

I started getting rid of a lot of things when I understood that more than making me poorer, they were actually making me sick.

I started giving out books I knew I would never read (or did read but never liked).

I gave (or threw away) clothes I was not going to wear anymore.

Books, clothes, but also cables, shoes, accessories: I got rid of all the clutter that was filling my life. And, even if I’m not done yet, merely the process of it has a tremendously good effect on my mental health and my productivity. Less has started to become more.

Today I feel like I finally started living according to my principles because I made them a priority. I removed all of the clutter that was clouding my judgment every day and finally paved the way toward having a more fulfilling life.


Let’s chat

Now, what is your take on the minimalism concept? Do you think you could apply it to your life? If not, what would be the blocking point according to you?

Disclaimer: those are not my shoes in the cover picture of this post. I just thought this wonderful picture by  the photographer Jakob Owens on Unsplash summed up the whole idea pretty well!

Last updated: 2 years ago

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